a dam or Lake Geneva, but if the same 

 vehicle moves its operations to the open sea 

 they then warrant consideration. __ 



Likewise, there are the different ap- 

 proaches to ballasting, maneuvering, life 

 support and launch/retrieval. By reviewing 

 the many different means to the same ends, 

 the operator may find an idea or a different 

 arrangement to increase the capabilities 

 and/or performance of his vehicle. 



There are, unfortunately, many stumbling 

 blocks in trying to categorize and force order 

 on such a free-wheeling, dynamic and wide- 

 spread activity. In some cases the subject 

 refuses to be pigeon-holed, terms must be 

 introduced which are arbitrary, modifica- 

 tions to the vehicle make near-current de- 

 scriptions inaccurate, and many loose ends 

 are left. To deal with these problems, this 

 chapter is devoted to alerting the reader to 

 the nature of such pitfalls, omissions and 

 inconsistencies. Other subjects will be dis- 

 cussed which, by their rebellious nature, are 

 only satisfied with a separate discussion or 

 by constant reiteration. 



Manned Submersible Defined 



To limit the scope of this book the following 

 defines a manned submersible: A manned, 

 non-combatant craft capable of independent 

 operation on and under the water's surface 

 which has its own propulsion power and a 

 means of direct viewing for the occupants 

 who are embarked within a dry atmosphere. 



This definition precludes underwater habi- 

 tats which have no independent means of 

 propulsion, swimmer delivery vehicles which 

 are not "dry" and diver support or delivery 

 chambers which are tethered to the surface. 

 By definition the tethered vehicles KVRO- 

 SHIO II, GUPPY and OPSUB should not be 

 included, but here is another gray area. KU- 

 ROSHIO II and its predecessor kuROSHIO 

 I have been a part of submersible history 

 since 1960; to omit them would serve no 

 particular purpose and would deny their sig- 

 nificant role in undersea exploration. Having 

 made this exception, GUPPY and OPSUB 

 must be included by default. 



Throughout these pages reference is made 

 to the "Submersible System;" this system 

 includes not only the submersible, but a ship 

 or surface craft to support it and an appara- 



tus for putting it in and taking it out of the 

 water. Attention is drawn to Figure 1.1 

 wherein the submersible system is graphi- 

 cally portrayed beginning with its most basic 

 component: The human. The importance of 

 this "system" concept is dealt with in Chap- 

 ters 2 and 12. 



A Field in Flux 



In a certain sense this section should be 

 entitled "An Apology" because its message is 

 to warn the reader that the vehicle descrip- 

 tions in Chapter 4 are, to varying degrees, 

 inaccurate. There are two primary reasons 

 for these inaccuracies: 1) Many of the vehi- 

 cles are no longer in existence and both the 

 participants and the records often are un- 

 available for authenticating what data is 

 available, and 2) the dynamics of the sub- 

 mersible industry. The first reason needs 

 little else in the way of explanation, but the 

 second requires some elaboration. 



Submersibles, like any other capital equip- 

 ment, can change owners, and a new owner 

 may change not only its design, but its name 

 as well. For example, the 1970 Perry-built PC- 

 9 (a Perry designation number) was originally 

 christened SURVEY SUB I by its owners 

 Brown and Root. In 1973, Taylor Diving Serv- 

 ices acquired the vehicle and renamed it TS-1. 

 Another Perry vehicle PS-2 was built in 1972 

 by Perry Submarine Builders for Access of 

 Toronto and was later christened TUDLIK. In 

 about 1973 the vehicle was transferred back to 

 Perry in Florida and reverted back to PS-2. In 

 1974 it was purchased by Sub Sea Oil Services 

 of Milan; its name has not yet changed, but 

 this may soon happen. Arctic Marine's SEA 

 OTTER was originally PA t/LO / and belonged 

 to Anautics Inc. of San Diego. In 1971 it was 

 purchased by Candive of Vancouver, B.C. and 

 subsequently leased on a long-term basis to 

 Arctic Marine which renamed it SEA OTTER, 

 while upgrading its operating depth from 600 

 to 1,500 feet. In some instances the same 

 owner may retain the vehicle, but it dives 

 under a variety of aliases. For example Cous- 

 teau's DIVING SAUCER is, to the French 

 reader, LA SOUCOUPE PLONGEANTE (this 

 name was also used at times in the U.S.), and 

 in the course of its history it was occasionally 

 called DENICE (after Cousteau's wife), DS-2 

 and SP-300. In 1970 the same vehicle was 



